MYTH: Hijab is a tool of dehumanizing oppression of women and a subjugation of their personality and their body by men

REALITY: Hijab is a liberation of women and an expression of their individual relationship with their creator.  Through practicing hijab, the Muslim woman celebrates and prizes her body by refusing to display it to any stranger in public.  And by preventing others from evaluating her based on her body alone, she forces those around her to communicate with her as a human being, and to judge her on the merits of her character rather than her physique.

MYTH: Hijab is some sort of reactionary political statement, a sign of defiance and refusal to fit in with social norms

REALITY: There is nothing reactionary about the hijab; indeed, it has been the dress of Muslim women for over 1400 years.  Accounts from the Bible indicate that in fact the tradition of the hijab is even older than that.  Go into any Catholic church, and you will see imagery of the Virgin Mary dressed in hijab.  The Muslim woman practicing hijab is merely continuing this same tradition.

On the contrary, the liberal styles of dress seen on the streets today represent the culmination of about 50 years of rather forceful reaction by several generations of youth against the more traditional, established norms of modest dress and conduct.  Even a few decades ago, women would have been arrested for some of the outfits that are now considered “normal” today.  In North America and Europe a little more than half century ago a Muslim woman would have looked quite normal amongst the other women, who dressed, for the most part in long, modest clothing, often with the hair covered with a scarf.  This sort of dress can still be seen today in women in rural Europe.

MYTH: Muslim women should take off the hijab out of sensitivity to the fears of terrorism amongst Europeans and North Americans

REALITY: NONE of the 17 accused hijackers of 911 were women.  NONE of the accused bombers in Madrid were women.  NONE of the accused bombers in London were women.  The 10-15 million Muslim women in the west are not responsible for the irrational fears induced by a few dozen men who claim to follow their religion.  The fact of the matter is if a Muslim women really wanted to undertake some dastardly suicidal terrorist plot, taking off her hijab would provide an excellent means of blending in and avoiding the attention of security officials.  To those who are “offended” by a woman in hijab, I will offer the same advice given to Muslims who complain about women who dress skimpily in public: “It’s a free country – If you don’t like it, look away.”

MYTH: Muslim women in the West only wear hijab because they’re forced to.

REALITY: The Muslim communities in the West have no power to force grown, adult women to wear something they don’t want to wear.  The leaders of the Muslim community can explain to women that it is a religious duty and tradition, and can teach why it is to the benefit of women and the society as a whole for them to observe it, but ultimately, the decision is up to them if they wish to choose not to wear it.  Many women do choose not to, and though this is not something that the community as a whole approves of, there is little that the community can do about it other than continue teaching the merits and value of hijab.  And while it is expected that a woman who does so will meet disapproval from her community, it is not normal for such women to experience intimidation to try to force them to don the hijab.

For minors under their parents care, this may be a different story, but it is a normal thing for parents in this country to exercise reasonable controls over what their children do and how they dress.  It has long been accepted as a right, and even a duty of a responsible parent in the West to say, “there’s no way you’re going out dressed like that,” when it is in the child’s interest.  It is strongly believed by most Muslims that it is in the best interest of young women to wear hijab.  Westerners need to accept the right of Muslim parents to raise their own children as they fit if there is no harm to the child involved, and not try to deny Muslim parents rights they would reserve for themselves in raising their own children.

MYTH:  If a Western woman goes to Iran, she has to wear a hijab.  So therefore a Muslim woman in the West should conform to Western standards of dress. 

REALITY:  Traditionally, in both Western and Islamic countries, societies have set minimum standards of dress for both men and women, with violations of these minimum standards punishable under “public indecency” codes.  The idea of such codes is to preserve public decency and the morality of society.  Such standards exist in the West; for example, women and men cannot expose their genitals in public, and, until very recently, a woman could not expose her breasts in public.  In a Muslim country, the standards are higher, but the idea is the same.  What has NEVER existed in the West is some sort of maximum standard, that says, if you cover more than this, it’s bad.  It has always been understood and accepted by thinking people in the West that it is up to the woman if she wants to go over the standard, and that there is nothing wrong with being more modest than the minimum.  With this in mind, it is seen that the Muslim woman is already conforming to Western standards of dress, and like a world class high jumper facing easy heights in the early stages of the competition, actually sails far over the bar.  It is thus seen that this argument offered by opponents of hijab lacks all merit.  Harassing Muslim women for wearing more than the norm is like harassing a talented student for getting a 95 when the class average is 65.  It doesn’t make sense.